Young Field
WEST FARGO — “We haven’t felt this feeling much this year,” Devils Lake baseball coach Brent Luehring told his squad on Friday.
It had to end at some point.
Coming into Friday, Devils Lake had won 11 of its last 12 games. Seemingly everything was going right, game in and game out — the Firebirds were just finding ways to win.
But a quality opponent finally got the best of them on Friday. The Firebirds (13-7) lost a pair of games to West Fargo (13-8), falling 5-1 in Game 1 and 6-5 in Game 2. They struggled to get the bats going nearly all night; they found some late life in the nightcap, but it was too little, too late by that point.
“I love our guys,” Luehring said. “I think we hit a lot of baseballs hard at some guys tonight.”
Just like in the softball game played earlier on Thursday, Game 1 had Brodina as the pitcher and Beck as the catcher — Tylie and Ava’s brothers, of course: Parker and Trason.
Brodina pitched a 1-2-3 first. He capped the frame with a strikeout, after shortstop Mason Palmer made two fantastic plays ranging to his left.
But Brodina allowed a bloop hit to lead off the second inning, then surrendered a two-run homer to right-center field. It was the first home run Devils Lake has allowed this season, coming in its 19th game. West Fargo tacked on another run with a two-out hit in the next inning, jolting it ahead 3-0.
The Firebirds had a prime scoring chance in the first inning, putting runners on the corners with one out for Jackson Baeth. But Devils Lake’s star cleanup hitter hit into a 6-3 double play, and the Firebirds came up empty.
It was Baeth that had Devils Lake’s next hit. After right-hander Chase Anderson overpowered the Firebirds in the second and third, a Baeth jam shot to left field put two runners on in the fourth, following Fausten Olson’s second of three times on base. A sloppy throwing error from the shortstop allowed each runner to advance 90 feet.
Still, Devils Lake found itself empty-handed. With two runners in scoring position, Brodina struck out, and Ben Larson popped out.
“We had opportunities,” Luehring said. “Earlier in the year when we had some opportunities, we were able to make a play or barrel a ball or something, at least get us some momentum. I give [Anderson] credit. He made pitches to get himself out of innings.”
Brodina settled in during the fourth and fifth innings. The Packers put five consecutive hits together in the sixth — though it only resulted in two runs due to a pair of baserunning mistakes. Still, the Firebirds entered the final frame in a 5-0 hole.
“I thought his curveball had a lot of break, but he couldn’t locate it,” Luehring said of Brodina’s performance. “He made one bad pitch when the ball went over the fence. The other two base hits in the first inning were kind of check swings that weren’t in the right spot. It might not always look pretty with him — he might not always have his best stuff — but you know he’s gonna compete and keep us in it.”
They avoided the shutout with a two-out RBI double in the seventh by Beau Brodina. But that was all they got, and fell 5-1.
The Firebirds struck first in Game 2 without a hit, aided by a walk and an error in the first inning.
But the Packers responded with three runs in each of the next two innings. Freshman Cayden McCarthy, who entered with a 3.46 ERA, surrendered three hits in each inning, along with five walks and a hit by pitch.
Easton Kraft, a freshman making just his second high school start, led off the second inning with a walk. It was his fourth consecutive time reaching base to begin his career. He’s still bouncing between JV and varsity, but the early showings are already boding well for his future.
“We really like him,” Luehring said. “He’s a freshman; hits the ball pretty hard. Showing us a lot in practice, just trying to give him the opportunity. Trying to give him some experience for next year.”
Kraft’s streak ended in the fourth inning. He was the second Firebird out, in what had the makings of an innocuous inning.
But then the Devils Lake offense woke up a little.
The bottom of the order recorded three straight hits — on three consecutive pitches, nonetheless. With the bases loaded, B. Brodina drew his third walk of the game. Then Olson hit a two-run single to get Devils Lake within three.
The two-out rally continued with back-to-back hit batsmen. The latter hit Will Heilman with the bases loaded, getting Devils Lake within a 6-5 margin.
Left-hander Taydon Triepke kept the Firebirds in the game with two scoreless innings. He struck out four batters, and worked around two errors in the fourth inning.
“He doesn’t do anything flashy,” Luehring said of Triepke. “He kind of just attacks the zone. He must have a little run on his fastball; just the left side, something different than what we usually run out there.”
But Devils Lake didn’t have another rally in it. Five innings wasn’t enough for another comeback, and the Firebirds had to accept the fate of a doubleheader sweep at their expense.
They’ll look to respond in a doubleheader against Wahpeton on Saturday at 1 p.m.
“We gotta turn the page, and can’t let the same team beat us twice,” Luehring said. “Gotta flush it, and let’s go get our seventh win in the EDC, and let’s get back on a winning streak. We’d rather lose now than two weeks down the road here.”
